1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to radiant heating systems and, more particularly, to a demand type of radiant heating system.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide a radiant heating system to heat a specific location in a building such as a warehouse. Typically, the radiant heating system includes a radiant heating tube having an inlet end and an exhaust end. A relatively short tube of smaller diameter than the radiant heating tube is positioned in the inlet end and spaced from an inner surface thereof to define a cylindrical passage for flow of air. A burner is positioned within the short tube. The burner has an inlet end to receive air and fuel and mixing the same and an exit end for emitting the air/fuel mixture for combustion. An example of such a radiant heating system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,125 to Rozzi, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Although the above-patented radiant heating system works well, it suffers from the disadvantage that it operates only on one fuel pressure setting and at predetermined times and cannot provide demand heating at any time. Another disadvantage is that a separate fuel control and regulator are used for fuel control. Yet another disadvantage is that the burner has an ignitor at one end and a separate radiant sensor for the burner which results in more parts. A further disadvantage is that the burner handles only relatively small air/fuel mixture.